OT Draymond Green arrested

[Strenuus]

My Angry Inch

I thought about going the Hedwig way...

 

[Boob-No-More]

I don't think Sabonis' retirement had anything to do with the towel-throwing. And I think the towel-throwing was immature and dumb, but far from unforgivable. If Jordan had done that to a teammate, people would have laughed and forgotten it ten seconds later. Sabonis was a cool-seeming guy, but not a Christ-like figure where any negative behavior towards him damns you for eternity (in my opinion, anyway).

"“If I was any kind of a man, I would have got up from that broadcast table and walked across the court and punched Rasheed Wallace in the nose. But I let Sabonis and the game of basketball and the human race down that day.” — Bill Walton"

Have people around here really forgotten that Sabonis actually retired twice.



I know I'm the resident old fart, but surely there are others here who have been following the Blazers for more than 15 years that remember the details.

Yes, Sabonis did retire, out of disgust with his coach, teammates and the entire organization less than a month after Towelgate. Here's what he had to say about his former coach and his teammates at that time:

Blazers center Sabonis says Dunleavy should've been fired earlier
May 11, 2001
SportsLine.com wire reports

KAUNAS, Lithuania -- Portland Trail Blazers center Arvydas Sabonis had harsh words for his teammates and said coach Mike Dunleavy should have been fired much earlier for failing to control his players.

"There aren't players on the Portland team, just names earning millions," Sabonis said Thursday while visiting his hometown.

Dunleavy was fired Monday after the Blazers were swept by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Suspensions, injuries and internal bickering plagued the team, which lost 17 of its last 25 games despite an NBA-record payroll of $89.7 million.

Sabonis said Dunleavy didn't "bring the team's stars down to planet Earth, and should have been fired midseason."

Sabonis' remarks were widely reported in newspapers and replayed on the radio Friday.

Five Blazers made at least $11.2 million last season, including Sabonis, who earned $11.25 million in the last year of a three-year contract. The 7-foot-3 center averaged 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds, but missed 16 games because of various injuries.

Sabonis would not speculate about his future with the team.

"I've gotten used to being in Portland and would like to stay there, but I don't know how things will turn out," he said.

If Sabonis decides not to return to the Blazers, he certainly would have good reason. During a game against the Lakers in Los Angeles on April 15, teammate Rasheed Wallace threw a towel into his face, angry that Sabonis accidentally smacked Wallace in the face with his hand.

The language barrier also was a persistent problem, and Sabonis struggled to understand what his teammates and Dunleavy wanted from him. In one game, Sabonis shouted to the bench, "I've got five people telling me different things!"

Sabonis didn't exclude the possibility that he might end his career playing for Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas, a top team in Europe and one that Sabonis partly owns.

"Someday I might play with them, if they'll take me," he said, joking.

Sabonis, who turns 37 in December, might be the greatest player to ever come out of the former Soviet Union. He was drafted by the Blazers in 1986 but stayed in Europe to play professionally. He helped the Soviet Union win the gold medal in the 1988 Olympics, and led Lithuania to bronze medals in 1992 and 1996.

Although he was past his prime when he made his debut with the Blazers in 1995, Sabonis has played well the past six seasons. He's averaged 13 points and 7.9 rebounds, and is regarded as one of the best-passing big men in the game.

------------------------------------------------

Was the towel in the face on national TV on April 15th THE reason Sabonis chose to sit out the 2001-02 season? Perhaps not, but it was a prime example of how Dunleavy had lost control of the team. Wallace charged Dunleavy in the locker room after the game. Dunleavy wanted to suspend Wallace, but Whitsitt overruled him.

So, Sabonis retired, sat out a year after Towelgate, and then came back out of retirement for one final season under Mo Cheeks in 2002-03.

BNM

 

[dviss1]

How is that NOT a tech....?

 

[Spud147]

Sabonis was just a man.

You're a LAKER FAN!!!

Hopefully Sly lets me get away with a personal attack this one time because Sabonis.

 

[Minstrel]

SLYPOKERDOG is a LAKER FAN!!!

Fixed that, since Sly is apparently asleep at the wheel in editing out insults.

 

[Boob-No-More]

How is that NOT a tech....?

A perfect storm of superstar treatment and situational officiating.

5:30 left in the 4th quarter of a very close (final score 125-121) Game 5 at GSW. Green already had one technical. No way are they giving him a second T and ejecting him with the game on the line.

BNM

 

[Trackjack]

The problem is one of the witness was a cop. The same person that put cuffs on him,

 

[Mediocre Man]

So he took the plea deal and paid $560 dollars for his trouble.......LOL Kiki, really was his judge

 

[KeepOnRollin]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/draymond-green-takes-plea-deal-in-assault-case

 

[BBert]

How is that NOT a tech....?

The league didn't even have the balls to address it after the fact. Disgusting.

 

[Trackjack]

The league need to do something about this guys he is out of control on the court and he now have took it outside the court. Green your not as great as you think your are when Durant gets there you be just another GS role players that it you can be dirty has you want but down someone going punch you right in the mouth.

 

[Orion Bailey]

The league need to do something about this guys he is out of control on the court and he now have took it outside the court. Green your not as great as you think your are when Durant gets there you be just another GS role players that it you can be dirty has you want but down someone going punch you right in the mouth.

Dude!!! Track getting feisty!! You go bro!!! love it. lol

 

[Haakzilla]

Lawyers say Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green will pay $560 for a noise violation and avoid jail time in a deal that gets rid of a misdemeanor assault and battery charge in East Lansing, Michigan.

David Meyers, an attorney for the city, says the noise violation is not a criminal charge so no guilty plea is required. Green's attorney, James Heos, said Friday that the violation is akin to a parking ticket.

Meyers said Green got no special treatment in the deal.


SOURCE --> http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...mond-green-avoid-jail-reaching-plea-agreement

 

[BBert]

So what happened exactly?

Draymond Green got a ticket and a fine for yelling at a guy?

Presumably because the alleged physical contact is hard to prove?

 

[Minstrel]

So what happened exactly?

Draymond Green got a ticket and a fine for yelling at a guy?

Presumably because the alleged physical contact is hard to prove?

It was a originally a misdemeanor for, in essence, getting into a fight. I'd assume that there wasn't convincing evidence that he was at fault (a fight is between two people and if they both provoke each other, neither is necessarily "the one to blame") so they just cited him for public disturbance or something similar.

 

[riverman]

Draymond Green just may have me rooting for France for the first time in my life in the Olympics.

 

[stampedehero]

We couldn't be happier as NBA fans and especially Blazer fans